Composting at Home

Page Content

Composting at home is easier than you think and is a great way to cut the amount you throw away. You also improve your soil when you use finished compost.

Composting happens when microbes break down food scraps, grass clippings and leaves into a soil-like material called compost. Compost is rich in plant food, holds more water than regular soil, and lessens the need for fertilizers and weed killers.

Backyard composting

Get a binCompost bins help keep the material together, keep critters out and may be required in your city.

Purchase a bin

Retail and garden stores

Online, search “compost bin"

Build your ownHere are helpful instructions on how to build a simple compost bin.

The right recipeMicbrobes need four key ingredients: “browns”, “greens,” water and oxygen. Most water comes from food scraps, so you shouldn’t have to add any extra moisture. The pile should feel damp when you touch it, but not soggy. If the pile is too soggy, it will smell. Add air by turning your pile with a garden fork. Turning isn’t a requirement of compost piles but it speeds up the process.

Browns & greens For every one kitchen pail of food added to your compost bin, add 3 big handfuls of dried leaves or straw. The best compost will come from a 3:1 ratio of browns to greens, but you don’t have to get scientific about it.

​Browns (sources of carbon for the compost)

​Greens (sources of nitrogen)

Dried leaves, garden debris, plant trimmings

Straw and hay

Wood (in small amounts): saw dust, wood chips, sticks

Pine needles (in small amounts) and pine cones

Paper egg cartons (remove labels)

Tissues, paper towels and napkins

​Food: fruit and vegetable scraps, rinds, peels, egg shells

Coffee grounds and filters

Tea bags

Fresh grass clippings (but it’s better to leave this on your yard)

DO NOT add these items because they can attract rodents or spread bacteria and plant diseases.

Meat, bones, fish and dairy

Fats: cooking oil and grease

Feces: Pet and human

Diseased plants & weeds that have gone to seed

Ash from charcoal or coal

Using your compostYou do not have to use your compost. Your pile should shrink over time as compost slowly seeps into the ground.

Well maintained compost piles will be ready for use in two to four months, but it may take up to a year under other conditions. You’ll know your compost is ready when the pile is dark, crumbly and smells like fresh dirt. You can still compost in the winter, but the process may slow down.

Use your compost for many things:

Mix compost in with your soil to improve quality.

Use it to fill in low spots in your yard.

Use it as mulch for landscaping and garden plants.

Mix compost in the soil for potted plants. Do not add more than 50 percent compost to pots.

Feed your wormsStart with a bedding at the bottom of your bin. Newspaper, cut into strips, or leaves are great materials. Over time, you will need to add additional bedding.

Add materials a few times a week, depending on how quickly the worms eat it. If the material is not eaten within a day or two, feed them a little less. Cover up fresh materials with newsletter or other bedding.

​Add

​Keep out

​Fruit

Grains

Vegetables

Coffee grounds

Egg shells

​Meat

Bones

Onions

Dairy

Fats: cooking oil and grease

Feces: Pet and human

Greasy or fried foods

When kept up, vermicomposting shouldn’t smell or attract fruit flies.

Vermicast can be mixed directly into garden and indoor plant soil.

Dakota County lists any products for informational purposes only and does not endorse any product.